If you are someone like me, having finished the academic year with an intense bout of exams and enjoying a couple or so weeks loafing around, know that you still have about two months of inactivity ahead of you. Although you may be looking forward to sleeping through the next few weeks, play that new game you've been looking forward to or try out all the new and hip places to eat out, what you haven’t realised is that this free period will be longer than you ever thought.
To make proper use of it, you can do something productive during the summer and help our thriving economy as well as your CV at the same time. Is you're thinking it's too late to join the club, fear not. There's still time to rescue your summer with these options.
Get an internshipSounds complicated. Let's get the basics covered. Internships are formal programs held by employers to provide practical experience for beginners in any industry. Internships can be both paid and unpaid, and internship periods can last from a year to even just a month. It all depends on the employer and the field.
If you are a student right out of high school, your options are limited. Don’t get your hopes down though. Your lack of intensive knowledge in a field means you will probably be doing basic tasks like filing and report drafting. This, again, varies depending on the employer, the field, and most importantly, your competence. This form of internship will usually be unpaid, but as an intern, you will get more out of this experience than your employers themselves. An internship lets you experience firsthand how working in your aspired field feels so you can decide on your dream career.
If you are in a university or just graduated from school, you can look for jobs in a specific field depending on your courses. An internship at this level can go unpaid, especially if you are still in university, but it can give you an insight into the field of work you will be getting into. Moreover internships allow you to build on your CV so you are better equipped to compete in the job market later on.
How to applyFirst, you decide which field you want to work in. If you are a student, you may still be going back to the dreaded question of “What do I want to be when I grow up?” As a university student, however, you are probably past that stage and have a vague idea on which industries appeal to you. If not, ask yourself the aforementioned question.
Once you have that figured out, list out the companies that wish to work for and note down their contact information. A computer with Internet and a web browser should help you do this. Bangladesh is a bit behind on the internship market compared to other countries (read: developed countries) so most companies don’t list internships on their websites. You have to go about your internship quest by emailing these companies with an appropriate cover letter, a CV and a portfolio (useful in creative fields like TV companies or newspapers). Approaching employers you already know can help (like a school you used to attend, or your parents’ employers.) Sounds arduous? Giving up hope? Don’t. This process mostly requires browsing on the Internet, so lay off Facebook for a couple of hours and make a future for yourself.
VolunteerThis sounds like it is for the benevolent among us, but volunteering can help you too. Volunteering for an NGO is one of the easiest ways to land a summer gig, where you can help an organisation with your skill set. Bangladesh, being a developing country, is home to NGOs of different scales and fields so all you have to do is go out and find your dream gig.
From personal experience, I can say that smaller, newer NGOs benefit more from people with varying skill sets, like graphic design, accounting, web design, marketing, and an extra pair of hands on the field is always welcome. Volunteering is a great way to build relevant work experience and get karma points. To find an NGO to join, the easiest way would be to look around Facebook and message them. NGOs are usually very active on social media and always have events during the summer for which you can volunteer.
Expand your knowledgeCan’t get an edge on your CV by working over the summer? Try expanding your knowledge when you're at home. The Internet provides a vast library of free resources and courses you can enroll yourself into. You wont be gaining any real world experience but adding this to your CV shows commitment to your field and keeps your brain working.
Coursera (https://www.coursera.org/) and Udemy (https://www.udemy.com/) are hot favourites right now and their catalogs showcases courses from top Ivy League universities as well as computer-based skills like web design and data management. If computers and the Internet aren’t your thing, you can opt for reading. J P Morgan’s summer reading list (
https://am.jpmorgan.com/private-bank/public/gl/en/summer-reading-list-2016) can help you out.
This is not, by any means, an exhaustive list of what you can do over the summer, but merely the tip of the iceberg. Summer is all about taking a break from your normal life and exploring something different, but whatever you do, don’t forget to relax and revaluate before moving on to the next step.